February 2009

I'm finally working on new stays! Thanks to weight loss and my last pair wearing out, it's time for new stays. I was tempted to try another style/pattern but the thought of no fitting, just some minor tweaking, really appeals. So new Diderot stays it is - call me lazy but there you are!

These stays will be almost identical to my last pair. I will construct them the same way (via The Mara Riley Method of Stay Making), with similar materials (yay cable ties!). I learned my lesson on using silk twill though. I hadn't even finished the stays before the fabric had pricked. Even though I interlined with sturdy cotton, the fabric has proved too fragile for the wear and tear of the boning as well. Bummer.

I dug deep into The Stash and found a last piece of coutil. You don't want to know how old it is but it's just enough for my stays - yay! It's a dull unbleached color though so I'll have a pretty fashion fabric on the outside. If one must make stays they must be pretty!

What the outside fabric will look like I have no idea! I've ordered a couple of things from my favorite B&R Exports so I'm waiting to see the fabrics in person before I make a finial decision. I want something fun though, almost to the point of obnoxious. :P

Here are the choices:
shocking pink "plain silk"
turquoise blue linen
white linen/silk blend - if I use this for the stays I'll dye it a shocking color (or at least try)

Feb 15
Sadievale and I worked on the patterns for our new stays tonight.

I had some minor tweaks to make to my pattern (which necessitated re doing some of the boning channels - ick) then we had some more major tweaks to make for the same pattern to work for S (which, thanks to lengthening for her long torso, necessitated more boning channel re-drawing *sigh*).

Feb 16

I just did my very first fabric burn test... ooh, ahh! It confirmed that my suspicions about the fiber content of the pink fabric I bought in NYC was right - it's a wool/rayon. Dude I am good!

So I can't use it for my new stays. Moo. I don't mind making a frock or two out of blends but not stays. I learned that lesson the hard way. So back to square one on the stay fabric. I do have some silk taffeta I could use but I'm concerned about it not holding up well. I tend to stick my stays with lots of pins while I'm toileing patterns, I can't imagine that will work well with taffeta. But I want pretty. Bah!

Feb 19
Sewed with Sadievale again tonight. I didn't really work on the stays but I did get my pattern back - yay!

Feb 21
I cut out the first half of my interlinings and marked the boning channels on the back pieces.

Because I'm going to have both a lining and outer "pretty" fabric the interlining will never be seen so I cheated a bit and used a Sharpie marker to transfer the design to the interlining. Not really cute but in the end no one will see and it will get the job done, yay!

Feb 22

I transferred the boning channel markings to the front piece tonight. I have to say I am loving working with the coutil so far. It really is fabulous stuff for making foundation garments - if only it weren't so expensive!

Feb 24

Yesterday I sewed all the channels in my front pieces. I decided to experiment with using temp basting spray rather than the pins and hand basting I've done in the past. It worked like a dream! My coutil pieces didn't shift or move one little bit. Yay! (I was careful to start with the longest center bones and to sew up and down in alternating directions too) I have to say I am loving working with the coutil so far. It really is fabulous stuff for foundation garments! :>

I used silk thread, since Bette, my sewing machine, didn't like the quilting thread I've used in the past. I like the silk thread alot though for this, it's so lovely to work with. *sigh*

Feb 24
I just finished off the back boning channels this afternoon. So I'm really at a stand still on the stays until my fabric comes in.

Mar 16
Life is very busy right now. Busy in a good way but still busy. So my sewing has been very piecemeal, an hour here, 20 minutes there - whenever I can squeeze it in. I'm getting stuff done, I'm even taking pics - I'm just not posting. Moo.

So stays progress. My fabric came in and I liked the bright blue linen best out of my choices. So blue it is, with bright yellow binding. Very Technicolor. Hee. Once the fabric was washed and pressed, I laid out the interlining pieces and cut (the blue will be my front and lining).

Next up, the boning. I used this tool from sadievale's dad's workbench. We aren't sure what it is exactly but it cuts the cable ties like butter - much easier than my old Navy issue scissors! After the pieces were cut I rounded off the edges with sandpaper.

Mar 17

I sewed the two halves of the front lining together and then stitched on the bias tape for the horizontal boning. I noticed on tailordrews last pair of Dideriot stays he had more than 2 lengths of boning. Then I looked at the pattern. Sure enough, the illustration shows four pieces while only two are marked on the pattern. So I decided to experiment and add another piece to make three. I don't know if it will actually make a difference or not, we'll see.

I then started putting all the pieces together, although I didn't get too far with it. My bed was calling far too loudly! :P

Apr 1
My stays are done!

Well not really. I still have all the binding to do, but they are in wearable, toile fitting condition. You know what that means - I can finally actually get to work on my CC27 frocks. Yes! Not more being tortured by your foufy polonaise trimming posts - I can work on mine too!

Apr 6
I finially had a chance to try on my stays (!!) and they are a little snug, which is fine since I'm continuing to lose wieght. Only thing is becasue of the large gap the shoulder straps aren't comfy. So I spent some time trimming them down and re-shaping them a bit.

So annoying. I really just want to work on a frock - enough with the stays already!

Apr 7

The stays are now wearable, yay! I like the fit, the third row of horizontal boning does make some difference. It makes my bust more flat and yet more round. Very late 1770s. Someday I will get the binding on (and take better pics for y'all) but for now I'm skipping straight to the fun stuff - the frocks!

Ahh yes and here are some pics of the construction of the stays which I haven't posted before...

Apr 25
My blue stays (still sans proper binding) had their first wearing out and they are perfect! Very comfy and flattering, even with the 2.5 hour drive. *throws confetti*

Someday I will get the binding on them. Really I will. :>